In the US state of California, new petrol cars will no longer be allowed to be sold from 2035. Lawmakers in the state, the largest auto market in the US, unanimously approved the plan, which was announced as early as 2020.
Governor Gavin Newsom, the man behind the new legislation, speaks of “the beginning of the end for the traditional combustion engine.” From the year 2035, every new car sold must be emission-free.
Example
Some US media cite California as an example for other states. There is a good chance that lower emission standards will eventually apply to a third of the entire US car market.
The American CNBC reports that the plans were unanimously approved. The rules only apply to the sale of new cars, which must be free of harmful substances by 2035. This can be done, for example, by using an electric motor or propulsion system based on hydrogen. There may still be room to sell plug-in hybrids, which have an internal combustion engine in addition to an electric motor.
“Everyone deserves to have a car that won’t give your kids asthma,” Newsom said when he introduced the plans in September 2020 . He calls the legislation ‘one of the most important steps for the disappearance of the exhaust as we know it’.
Intermediate targets must be met before the ban on the sale of petrol cars comes into effect. For example, 35 percent of new cars sold by 2026 must comply with the rules, in 2030 this will be 68 percent. According to Bloomberg news agency, 15 percent of all newly registered cars in California are currently electric.